This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning a surface underwater. More particularly, this invention holds a gelled acidic cleaning agent on a surface to clean the surface underwater or in air.
Scientific research and applications concerning the marine environment have captured the world""s attention. Technological developments and equipment for undersea applications are at higher levels than ever before. This increased activity has focussed efforts to securely place a wide variety of systems underwater and making certain that these systems work reliably as they complete their undersea tasks. Generally speaking, marine surfaces should be clean of marine organisms and other marine contamination to reliably attach packages of instrumentation to them. Marine surfaces typically consist of a level of hard, encrusted fouling on the exterior of a base material, such as steel, aluminum, fiberglass, concrete, etc. Contemporary methods for effectively cleaning underwater surfaces still leave much to be desired. Some of these have frameworks supporting scrapers and their mechanical action, agitated wire brushes being held on surfaces, or systems aiming jets of water, and these are usually powered from batteries or remote power sources. Some cleaning appliances are manually powered but most are cumbersome and not user friendly. The old methods are costly, power intensive, noisy, and require one or more operators"" constant attention.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a device to clean a surface in air or water by an operator who quickly and quietly attaches a gelled acid compound on the surface and removes it after cleaning is done.
The present invention provides an apparatus for and method of cleaning a surface in air or underwater quickly and quietly by a single operator. A clamping mechanism engages features around a contaminated surface and is connected to a dome-shaped receptacle containing a gelled acid compound that is pressed against the contaminated surface. Contamination exposed to the gelled acid compound is dissolved, and the clamping mechanism is disengaged.
An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for and method of quietly cleaning a wet or dry contaminated surface.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for and method of cleaning a surface permitting attachment and removal by a single operator, such as a diver to clean a surface underwater.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for and method of cleaning that is uncomplicated and reliably used by a single diver to quietly attach packages underwater in the harsh marine environment.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for and method of cleaning by an operator that may be left unattended after engagement to features around a contaminated surface.
Another object is to provide an apparatus for and method of cleaning a surface using a gelled acid compound applied by a single operator to permit more reliable adhesion of instrumentation.
These and other objects of the invention will become more readily apparent from the ensuing specification when taken in conjunction with the appended claims.